Walk Away
by chrissie0707
Summary: Response to Kristen999's June Challenge. Nick doesn't get the last word. Posttag for Ep 5.17 Compulsion.


**Walk Away**

post-tag for Compulsion, 5.17

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They led Matt Hawkins away, handcuffs hugging his wrists a little more loosely than their usual occupants; they weren't designed for such small bones. As Matt moved past his parents in the hall, he tried to run to his mother – maybe a killer, but still a frightened little boy – and was pulled away by the officers guiding him, a gesture that left all three Hawkins in tears.

Nick watched the whole thing from down the hall, back by the door to the interrogation room that they had all just exited. Close enough to _be_ there, but far enough away to keep himself together as the emotional scene unfolded. Or far enough away to try.

He watched as young Matt was escorted out of sight, and Martin Hawkins had to support his wife as he led her away in the opposite direction. Hands on his hips, Nick looked down at the ground – _great tile pattern_ – swallowing the lump in his throat. There was a reason he had been so quiet in that interrogation. A reason that he had been content with having Cavaliere do all of the talking, even though he had had his fill of the detective for the week.

A reason that, had Grissom been anywhere near the room, would have landed him on the receiving end of quite the earful, whether it was deserved or not.

In Nick's opinion, this wasn't being _attached;_ this was being a human person, with feelings and everything. Anyone who was unaffected by the day's events was just…not Nick. A mouthy, pushy detective, Whack-A-Mole with lead pipes, reenacting a puzzling murder, a stony-faced confession giving way to the teary rage of a humiliated older brother…it was a lot to take in, and a lot to process, and he just wasn't sure that he was up to it at the moment. More than anything, he just wanted to go home.

"Hey."

Nick raised his eyebrows and turned at the voice, seeing Detective Cavaliere sauntering towards him. At the end of the day, Nick still had enough left in him to be disgusted with the man. They were putting a fourteen-year-old _kid_ away for murdering his younger brother – and over stupid brotherly shit, no less – and the detective had the audacity to be strutting through the station like he was wholly responsible for putting any ordinary criminal behind bars.

Cavaliere stopped a few steps away and bobbed his head cockily. "You owe me an apology." That was apparently all that this case came down to. He watched Nick expectantly.

"I'm sorry," Nick said with wide innocent eyes, nodding a little, playing his game. He turned away. "That you feel that way," he added, not missing a beat. With that said, he started down the hall, taking deep breaths.

It was something that under any other circumstance, Nick might have added as an afterthought in his head, but would have never vocalized, but Cavaliere had been pushing his buttons for two days, and for that man to think that Nick owed him anything, especially an _apology_, was laughable. By continuing the investigation, even after Cavaliere showed him Matt's written confession, Nick hadn't been doing anything but his job. And he couldn't recall the last time that he had been so happy to call his job over with for the day and just head home.

As Nick was rounding the corner down a less populated hallway, he sighed, remembering that it wasn't that easy. He still had to go back to the lab, and let Catherine know how things had gone there at police station, and then there was all of that paperwork left for him to do…

"Hey, Stokes."

Nick couldn't help the exasperated sigh he let out as he once again turned to face the detective. And not so calmly this time; he was getting really sick of the man continuously disrespecting him by addressing him that way. "Yeah, Chris?" he asked pointedly.

Detective Cavaliere approached Nick with quick steps, his dark eyes narrowed. He jerked a thumb behind him. "What the hell was that?"

Nick placed his hands on his hips. "What the hell was what?" This was just the last thing that he needed right now.

Cavaliere mimicked Nick's posture and took another step forward, somehow managing a menacing expression when Nick had a few inches on him. "You know, I don't think that you get to be the one with the attitude here, Stokes."

The leftover emotions that Nick was dealing with from this case were rapidly reevaluating and rearranging themselves. Whatever it was he was feeling before was fading away, and he was quickly growing pissed. Nick opened his mouth for a rebuttal, never one to pick a fight, but he hadn't picked this one, had he? Juvenile defense or not, but he hadn't started it.

Cavaliere started gesturing angrily as he cut off Nick's response before he even got a single word out. "While you were running around grabbing innocent people and labeling them as suspects, _I_ got the written confession from the kid. And instead of acknowledging that I was right all along, you have to go and be a smartass about it?"

Nick had looked away and started shaking his head midway through Cavaliere's little tirade. He was still stuck on the fact that Nick hadn't been as quick as he was to accuse Matt Hawkins of the murder based on a confession obtained under suspicious circumstances. "I wasn't doing anything but my job," he told the detective, for what felt like the hundredth time.

"And so was I." It sounded an awful lot like a challenge.

Nick pursed his lips. "Put yourself in my shoes, Chris. I saw the way you talked to Matt when we were questioning him. And then you hook him up to a machine that isn't even used by this department, and-"

"I was right, wasn't I?" Accompanied by a smirk and a raised eyebrow, it certainly didn't come across as an innocent question.

Nick laughed and rubbed at his forehead. "And so was I. Looking for and following evidence is what I'm supposed to do."

Cavaliere cocked his head with another venomous smirk, not taking too kindly to being laughed at. "Is that how Ecklie's going to see it?"

Nick frowned and felt his temper heat up at the threat of going over his head, whether the detective had any foothold or not. It was a sensitive subject with him. Ecklie had already had the entire Graveyard shift – check that, Graveyard and now _Swing_ shift – on his shit list for months. A complaint from the PD certainly wouldn't help matters any.

He sure as hell wasn't going to suck up, but instead of trying to rationalize with the man, Nick felt his defenses rising. "What are you doing here, Chris?" he asked. "We got the kid, and because _I _didn't jump to your conclusions, we have the evidence to back it."

Nick could have, and probably should have, left it there. Been the bigger man, and walked away. But he was overworked, tired, and just downright _done_ with Detective Chris Cavaliere. And with all of those factors, something inside of him just had to have the last word, and had to add "More than a piece a paper that you more than likely forced from his hand."

Cavaliere's nostrils were flaring; it was no secret that the detective had a temper, and one that far exceeded that of even a provoked soft-spoken Nick Stokes. "We've had this conversation," he gritted out.

"Yeah," Nick said, nodding. "We have." He saw the detective flexing his hands into fists at his sides and had to fight to not roll his eyes.

This guy was a jerk, but when Nick took a second to think about it, he wasn't going to stand there and get any further into a juvenile argument with him. "And we're not going to have it again," he said, once again turning to walk away.

Nick didn't get more than one step away when he felt a hand grip his arm. Now Cavaliere was crossing a line.

He wrenched his arm away, pissed off turning into _pissed OFF_. "What is your problem, Chris?" he demanded angrily.

"I'll tell you what my problem is-"

"Hey!"

Both men turned at the new voice, and watched as Warrick jogged down the hall towards them, a deep frown on his face. Nick had forgotten that Warrick was there. He took a step back, the back of his foot colliding with the wall behind him. He bounced forward quickly and crossed his arms, suddenly feeling sheepish in the presence of his best friend, embarrassed that the whole thing had been overheard.

Sheepish was obviously something neither Warrick nor Cavaliere were feeling. Unlike Nick, the detective did not fight his eye roll as Warrick approached them, probably thinking he was getting some kind of two-annoying-CSIs-for-one deal.

"What the hell is going on here?" Warrick asked in a sharp hiss, coming to a stop only a few feet away from the two men and jabbing a finger in the neutral space between them.

"Just discussing the case," Cavaliere answered.

Warrick had a look that said 'yeah, like I was talking to you', and turned his attention to Nick.

Nick shook his head. "It's nothin', Rick. Just…discussing the case."

Warrick snorted. "Yeah, I bet. The whole building can hear you two 'discussing the case'."

Nick felt his cheeks start to heat up. He hadn't realized that their voices had grown that loud, or carried that far.

Warrick planted his hands on his hips and looked down at the two with what could only be described as disappointment, and Nick was certainly feeling it. "What are you guys fighting about, anyway? We're all supposed to work together here."

Cavaliere barked a short laugh. "That's real rich, coming from you. Remember that little spat with Officer Tyner a few years back?"

Warrick's eyes narrowed. "Why don't you just go somewhere and cool down, Chris." Nick marveled at how cool Warrick was able to keep it – but that was Warrick. Cool as a cucumber. He didn't move to defend himself, he just let the comment slide right off of him.

"Yeah," the detective said, knowing he had struck a nerve. "Why don't I?" Cavaliere gave the two CSIs a long look. "See ya 'round," he said, and with a raised eyebrow, turned and walked away.

Nick shook his head and scratched at his eyebrow. "He's just on a roll today, isn't he?"

Warrick clucked his tongue and waved a hand dismissively. "Don't let him get to you like that, man." He clearly knew that the argument was not something that Nick would have started, but to him, it probably didn't seem like it had been something that he had been trying to get out of, either.

"Yeah, I know," Nick said, sighing. "Just…had a long day."

"I hear ya." Warrick cocked his head. "One thing I've learned, man…you gotta let it go. Let 'em talk all they want, and walk away."

Nick only nodded, not even going to try to explain that that's all he had wanted to do all along.

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Prompt from everybetty - after Nick makes the snarky remark to Cavaliere, do they fight? 


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